FutureBrand news, views & insights: April 2022
The end of the beginning
It’s the end of the first quarter and I’d say we’ve officially made it to the end of the beginning of the new year. It finally feels as though we’re coming out of COVID-19, leaving lockdowns in our trail and flying full throttle into 2022.
If there was ever a sign that things seem to be normalising, it’s the recent spate of travel bookings for the team here at FutureBrand. Not simply flights locally between Sydney and Melbourne but also globally next month to London and New York. It’s great to be back in person building brands, together with hybrid habits that are helping us work in evermore collaborative, inclusive and versatile ways.
Try, buy, use
Ever since the first lockdown started in early 2020, we began the process of exploring our ways of working via a series of fortnightly surveys that explored four key areas: technology, our personal experience, team collaboration and communication, and client interaction.
Having run the surveys and evaluated the results on a rolling basis from April through to June, these insights ultimately evolved into a series of ‘habits’ – seven small, easy and useful actions that automatically and consistently inform and inspire how we work.
One of those habits is this.
We regularly try/buy/use our clients’ brands, products & services.
Over the past year or so, we’ve played darts in augmented reality, learned the basics of golf, and enjoyed dozens of frames of tenpin bowling. We’ve gone secret-shopping for a private banker, for the perfect home insurance policy, and for a place in an aged care home. And, our habit even extends to using one client’s borderless banking product for our business expenses and another’s lovingly-crafted wines for our client gifts.
What’s surprising is how rarely organisations eat their own dog food, as the saying goes. But there are good examples to be found, like SafetyCulture.
Their mission is to help companies achieve safer and higher quality workplaces all around the world through innovative, low-cost mobile first products, and so their meeting rooms are designed as their customers’ workplaces – that way, safety in the workplace is ever present, every meeting.
Experiencing something for yourself better enables you to stand in your customers’ shoes and feel empathy for their perspective. Try, buy, use your own brand, product or service – and by all means let me know what you uncover.
Not for profit
As the concept of purpose has grown to rival profit in the business arena, it has also raised the stakes for those organisations who have always been not-for-profit. In tandem, the not-for-profit sector itself has grown increasingly competitive as more and more organisations wrestle for the community’s attention and advocacy, donations and support.
Over the years, we have worked with a range of not-for-profit organisations, applying our strategic thinking and creativity to help grow their brands – and as you would expect, we’ve always flexed our approach to bring big ideas to smaller budgets.
In all honesty, however, our approach has been relatively ad hoc when it comes to exactly where and how we donate our time and energy. Consequently, we’ve been reflecting on how we might learn from our experience and clarify our approach, if only for our own peace of mind, sense of purpose and productivity.
In simple terms, it seems to come down to three questions.
1. Community: What kind of positive social and/or environmental impact does the Not-For-Profit aim to achieve?
2. Culture: Is there the alignment of cultures, values and ways of working between the Not-For-Profit and FutureBrand to enable us to make a positive difference?
3. Capability: How might we apply our strategic thinking and creativity in ways that more effectively leverage the Not-For-Profit’s brand for improved social and environmental outcomes?
In response to any given opportunity to support a not-for-profit, the answers to these questions will help us determine how best to make FutureBrand Australia’s brand transformation services accessible and available on a pro bono basis, whether wholly or in part. We will commit a percentage of revenue each year – that way, we can donate our time and skills to help make our own positive difference.
That said, we’re still only developing this approach, we’ll likely evolve and improve it, and I’d love to hear any ideas or insights that might help us do just that. Feel free to email me or simply comment below…otherwise, watch this space.
Mentally healthy
From our work with the likes of Innowell and Orygen, we know only too well the importance of mental health for each and every one of us.
Which is why we recently invited The Mind Room to take us through their ‘Wellbeing Workout’ so that we could learn some simple tools and each develop a personalised plan to keep us feeling mentally healthy.
What’s important is a proactive approach, so please do take a look at their workshops for organisations to see if one of them might benefit you and your teams – suffice to say we’d happily recommend them.
Independently minded, globally connected
It’s this unique combination that distinguishes FutureBrand in the Australian market – we come locally owned and independently minded, together with the global relationships and resources of FutureBrand worldwide.
Lately, we’ve been working on how to better represent ourselves locally with a FutureBrand Australia version of our global website now up and running (not to mention a brand new website we’re building in the background).
This will make it easier for us to surface and showcase local news, insights and case studies – starting with a pair of news stories about our people.
Firstly, the news that Stephen Barber, our Brand Experience Director who recently left to return to the UK, has since taken up a newly-created global role as FutureBrand Chief Experience Officer.
Secondly, that Sam Hughes has filled the Brand Experience Director role in Australia, and Ashish Adsul has joined as a Brand Manager.
Please take a look around the FutureBrand Australia website, hopefully you’ll find something useful for you and your teams as we continue to publish content to help guide and grow your brand.
That’s it for another month! Hope you enjoy reading and find some useful insights for your own brands, please subscribe, comment and share – as ever, happy to hear all and any feedback, and I look forward to bumping into you in an airport sometime soon.